The organization I chose was ACPA – College Student Educators International for two reasons: 1) it is one of the largest student affairs professional organizations, so I suspected I’d be able to find a variety of links, followers and social media activity; and 2) one of my closest friends is the current vice president, and will be president next year. I then went to Tweetdeck (one of my new favorite tools) and searched the handle @acpa. From there, I perused a number of posts and explored the following in more detail.

@ascaprez

This is the handle of the current ACPA president, Keith Humphries. He’s tweeted on a variety of topics, about the organization generally as well as specific topics. I also looked at his blog, which I found well-organized and easy to read (something we discussed in class last week.) Being the president of a large national organization, as well as Dean of Students at a large Pac-12 school, gives his authority and makes him (and his social media work) reputable. He doesn’t blog much (about once a month or so), so I would probably check in occasionally rather than follow or add a column to Tweetdeck.

Melissa Harris-Perry

Ms. Harris-Perry was the topic of a number of tweets, as she was recently announced as the opening speaker for the ACPA national conference in March. While she hasn’t tweeted regarding ACPA, a review of her website reveals she is well-regarded on her field (foci include African-Americans, gender and politics). Her website has video clips from her MSNBC television show, her credentials, and links to causes she supports. Professional and trustworthy, for certain, but not really of major interest to me, so I likely won’t follow her.

@ ASCA_CJE

This is the handle for the Commission for Social Justice Educators of ACPA. (Commissions are smaller groups within the main organization centered on topical area or job focus.) There was not much for this group. Only a few tweets, very few followers or following and their blog had only four posts. It appears that members are implementing social media to increase the commission’s visibility. I’m interested in social justice issues, there’s not much here to want me to follow. Maybe after it grows some, though.

#acpa13

This hashtag is being used to promote the upcoming national convention in Las Vegas in March. Linking to the main conference website, it’s well organized and laid out, so reputable, but since I won’t be going to the conference, I decided not to follow this one, or the very similar handle @ACPAConvention

Helix Higher Ed

A post to @ACPA from this organization caught my eye. A review of their website revealed they are an aggregator for innovations in higher and allows readers to rank the items. Some of the items they’ve recently highlighted include 1) a recycling program in the dining hall at MIT; 2) CampusPhilly, “a positive social, community, and professional experiences off-campus for college prospects and enrolled students by connecting them to regional businesses and institutions”; and 3) Trends in College Spending Online, which provides information on “spending, revenues, productivity, and enrollment in higher education institutions.” A very interesting site, but it seems fairly new (I could find posts only back to early September) and low numbers of reviewers (high of 9, low of 1) for the innovations listed. So, I don’t think it’s terribly reputable just yet…

One response to “Finding, Following and Filtering”

Hi Mike! I liked how you explained your reasoning for deciding to follow (or not) your potential connections. I am hoping to continue to research a bit more in order to find real-life peers to follow that I might be able to build professional relationships. We’ll see…